Question

Which theoretical physicist wrote a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, urging the need for atomic research, which eventually led to the Manhattan Project?

• A. Niels Bohr
• B. Max Planck
• C. Werner Heisenberg
• D. Albert Einstein

Answer 1

Answer:

D. Albert Einstein

• In 1939, Einstein, along with physicist Leo Szilard, composed a letter that emphasized the potential development of "extremely powerful bombs of a new type" utilizing nuclear fission.

• This letter, signed by Einstein, was delivered to President Roosevelt as a warning about the potential military applications of atomic energy.

• It prompted the United States government to take action in investigating the feasibility of atomic weapons and led to the establishment of the Manhattan Project, a top-secret research and development project during World War II, aimed at creating the first atomic bombs.

• The Manhattan Project, which began in 1942, involved the efforts of many leading scientists and resulted in the successful development and testing of the first atomic bombs, which were ultimately used on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, leading to the end of World War II.